Method, system and program for supporting input of execution parameter of predetermined software to input field

ABSTRACT

To provide a method, a program and a system for supporting the input of one or more execution parameters of predetermined software in an input field. The method includes: receiving input of a text character string including one or more execution parameters in the input field displayed on a display device; displaying one the display device one or more execution options of the predetermined software in such a manner that a user can select the options in response to selection of a part of the text character string by the user; and transforming the text character string so as to include at least one of the one or more execution options selected and displaying the transformed text character string on the display device. The one or more execution options displayed can vary with the type of selection of the part of the text character string.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/895,820, filed on Sep. 30, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,522,156,entitled “METHOD, SYSTEM AND PROGRAM FOR SUPPORTING INPUT OF EXECUTIONPARAMETER OF PREDETERMINED SOFTWARE TO INPUT FIELD,” the entirety ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. application Ser. No.12/895,820 claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to Japanese PatentApplication Serial Number 2009-227925, filed Sep. 30, 2009, entitled“METHOD, SYSTEM AND PROGRAM FOR SUPPORTING INPUT OF EXECUTION PARAMETEROF PREDETERMINED SOFTWARE TO INPUT FIELD”, the entirety of which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a user interface. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to a method, a system and aprogram for supporting the input of an execution parameter ofpredetermined software to an input field.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recent proliferation of the Internet has made it common for users toaccess servers on the Internet or other networks from their own clientsystems and enjoy a wide variety of services provided thereby. Forexample, the services include the Internet search service. In theprovision of the service, the user first inputs one or more executionparameters in the input form on the web page received from the serverand transmits the information. The server executes a processing based onthe received parameter(s) and provides the service to the user.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a browser window including an input form usedfor input of an execution parameter. A web page 720 shown in FIG. 7provides an input interface of an Internet search service. A user whowants to use the Internet search service inputs, as an input parameterto the search engine, one or more search terms separated by a space inan input field 725 and transmits the search terms to the search serverby pressing an execution button 730 labeled “Search”. The search serverexecutes a search processing using the received search terms and returnsa web page containing the search result to the user.

Many companies in the industry have been developing various techniquesassociated with the above description. The following patent documentsand non-patent documents are examples of those techniques.

International Publication No. WO2002041185.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20070174350.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20070100809.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20080228468.

With the current techniques, an execution option in the text expressioncan be added to a parameter input in an input field. For example, for“Apache Lucene”, which is an open source software search engine, asearch option can be specified for an input parameter according to thesyntax shown in FIG. 8 (“Apache Lucene—Query Parser Syntax”, PeterCarlson, The Apache Software Foundation,http://lucene.apache.org/java/2_(—)3_(—)2/queryparsersyntax.pdf, lastvisited on Sep. 10, 2009).

However, the search option specification described above is inconvenientin that a user who wants to specify a search option has to memorize thespecifications of the options or refer to the manual in order to inputparameters. In addition, the syntax for specifying options may vary withindividual tools (“Google search basics: More search help”,http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?h1=en&answer=136861,last visited on Sep. 10, 2009, for information on the syntax for theGoogle™ search engine, for example). Thus, a user of a plurality oftypes of tools may have to inconveniently memorize the respectivesyntaxes, for example.

Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide an improvedmethod, system and program for supporting the input of an executionparameter of predetermined software to an input field.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to attain the object described above, a method for supportinginput of one or more execution parameters of predetermined software inan input field is provided. The method comprises: receiving input of atext character string including one or more execution parameters in theinput field displayed on a display device; displaying on the displaydevice one or more execution options of the predetermined software insuch a manner that a user can select the options in response toselection of a part of the text character string by the user; andtransforming the text character string so as to include at least one ofthe one or more execution options selected and displaying thetransformed text character string. The one or more execution optionsdisplayed can vary with the type of selection of the part of the textcharacter string.

Preferably, the one or more parameters and execution options included inthe transformed text character string are transmitted to a server thatexecutes the predetermined software.

Preferably, the method further comprises determining the selection typecorresponding to the range of the selected part of the text characterstring, and the display of the execution options includes identifyingone or more execution options of the predetermined softwarecorresponding to the selection type.

Preferably, in a case where the text character string includes aplurality of input parameters, the input parameters are separated by adelimiter, such as a space (a blank character), and the selection typeis determined by considering the delimiter that is included in and/oradjacent to the selected part of the text character string.

Preferably, the method further comprises calculating the number ofparameters associated with the selected part of the text characterstring based on the delimiter included in the selected part of the textcharacter string. Preferably, the method further comprises determiningthe selection type based on whether the selected part of the textcharacter string is adjacent to a delimiter or not.

Although the present invention has been outlined as a method, thepresent invention can also be understood as a system, a softwareproduct, software or a program. The software product may be a storagemedium that stores the software described above or a medium fortransmitting the software.

Note that the above outline of the present invention does not completelycover all the essential features of the present invention, andcombinations or sub-combinations of the components are also included inthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an exemplary data processing systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an exemplary hardware configuration of aninformation processing apparatus suitable for implementing a clientsystem according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the client system accordingto the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the whole of an operation of the dataprocessing system according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation (selection typedetermination) of the data processing system according to the embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation (menu presentation) of thedata processing system according to the embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 shows an example of a browser window of the data processingsystem according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows an example of a syntax for parameter input according to theembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows an example of a selection type table according to theembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 shows an example of a menu table according to the embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 11 shows an example of a graphical user interface of the dataprocessing system according to the embodiment of the present invention(in the case where the selection type is identified as “substring”);

FIG. 12 shows an example of a graphical user interface of the dataprocessing system according to the embodiment of the present invention(in the case where the selection type is identified as “single term”);and

FIG. 13 shows an example of a graphical user interface of the dataprocessing system according to the embodiment of the present invention(in the case where the selection type is identified as “multiple terms(2 terms)”).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, a best mode for carrying out the present inventionwill be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However,note that the embodiment described below is not intended to limit thepresent invention, which is defined by the Claims, and not allcombinations of features of the present invention described with regardto the embodiment are not essential for the means for solving theproblems according to the present invention.

The present invention can be implemented in many different ways andshould not be construed as being limited to the specific embodimentdescribed below. In addition, note that not all the combinations offeatures of the present invention described with regard to theembodiment are not essential for the means for solving the problemsaccording to the present invention. The same components are denoted bythe same reference numerals throughout the description of theembodiment.

First, the embodiment of the present invention will be outlined. A dataprocessing system 150 according to this embodiment of the presentinvention requires a user to input a search condition in the form of atext character string in an input field in an input form displayed on abrowser of a client system 100. The text character string includes oneor more search terms, which are execution parameters, and may include asearch option according to a syntax shown in FIG. 8.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the input of a searchcondition begins with a user inputting a text character string includinga search word in the input field and selecting a part of the textcharacter string. Then, the client system 100 determines the type ofselection of the text character string (whether the type of selection is“substring” (which means a partial character string in a term), “singleterm” (which means a single term), “multiple terms (2 terms)” (whichmeans a plurality of terms, in particular, two terms) or “multiple terms(3+ terms)” (which means a plurality of terms, in particular, three ormore terms) in this embodiment of the present invention).

Then, a menu of search options is presented to prompt the user to make asearch option selection. In this embodiment of the present invention,the menu presented varies with the type of selection determined, so thatthe user can efficiently make a search option selection. Then, the textcharacter string is transformed to additionally include the selectedsearch option.

The search condition input in the form of the text character string asdescribed above is transmitted to a web server 120 over a network 110,and the result of a search service processing is returned to the clientsystem 100 in the form of a web page.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the data processing system 150 according tothis embodiment of the present invention. The data processing system 150according to this embodiment comprises the client system 100, thenetwork 110 and the web server 120.

The client system 100 according to this embodiment of the presentinvention uses a web browser program to receive a search service fromthe web server 120. The web server 120 according to this embodiment ofthe present invention executes a service processing and returns theresult of the processing to the client system 100 in response to aservice request received from the client system 100 over the network110.

In the data processing system 150 according to this embodiment of thepresent invention, the client system 100 and the web server 120communicate with each other over the network 110. For example, thenetwork 110 can be the Internet, which is well known, and the systemscan be interconnected using TCP/IP, which is a communication protocolwell known to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an exemplary hardware configuration of aninformation processing apparatus suitable for implementing the clientsystem 100 according to this embodiment of the present invention. Theinformation processing apparatus has a central processing unit (CPU) 1and a main memory 4, which are connected to a bus 2. Removable storages(external storage systems with a replaceable recording medium) includinghard disk drives 13 and 30, CD-ROM drives 26 and 29, a flexible diskdrive 20, an MO drive 28 and a DVD drive 31 are connected to the bus 2via a floppy disk controller 19, an IDE controller 25, an SCSIcontroller 27 or the like.

Storage media, such as a flexible disk, an MO, a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM,are inserted into the removable storages. The storage media, the harddisk drives 13 and 30 and a ROM 14 can store a code of a computerprogram that cooperates with an operating system to issue a command tothe CPU or the like to implement the present invention. The computerprogram is loaded to the main memory 4 before execution. The computerprogram may be compressed or divided into a plurality of sections andrecorded in a plurality of media.

The information processing apparatus receives an input from an inputdevice, such as a keyboard 6 and a mouse 7, through a keyboard/mousecontroller 5. The information processing apparatus is connected to adisplay apparatus 11 that presents visual data to the user via aDAC/LCDC 10.

The information processing apparatus can connect to the network via anetwork adapter 18 (an Ethernet® card or token ring card) or the like tocommunicate with another computer or the like. Although not shown, theinformation processing apparatus can be connected to a printer via aparallel port or to a modem via a serial port, for example.

As can be readily understood from the above description, the informationprocessing apparatus suitable for implementing the client system 100according to this embodiment of the present invention can be an ordinarypersonal computer, an ordinary workstation, an ordinary mainframe, or acombination thereof. However, the components described above are onlyillustrative, and all the components are not always essential in thepresent invention.

Of course, those skilled in the art can readily devise variousmodifications, such as combining a plurality of machines anddistributing the functionality among the machines to implement thehardware components of the information processing apparatus used in thisembodiment of the present invention. Of course, these modifications areincluded in the spirit of the present invention.

The client system according to this embodiment of the present inventioncan be implemented on an operating system that supports a graphical userinterface (GUI) multi-window environment, such as the Windows® operatingsystem provided by Microsoft Corporation, the MacOS® operating systemprovided by Apple Computer Incorporated, and UNIX®-based systems withthe X Window System (for example, AIX® provided by InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation).

As can be understood from the above description, the application of theclient system used in this embodiment of the present invention is notlimited to a particular multi-window operating system environment.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the client system 100according to this embodiment of the present invention. In theinformation processing apparatus having the hardware configuration shownin FIG. 2, the components shown in the functional block diagram of FIG.3 can be implemented by loading the computer program, such as theoperating system and application software, stored in the hard disk drive13 or the like into the main memory 4 and then into the CPU 1 to makethe hardware resources and the software cooperate with each other.

The client system 100 according to this embodiment of the presentinvention comprises an input/output device 310, a web browser 320, and aparameter input support program 330. In this embodiment of the presentinvention, it is supposed that the web browser 320 is implemented by aweb browser program previously installed in the client system 100. It isalso supposed that the input support program 330 is implemented by aJavaScript program downloaded to the client system 100 along with a webpage including a parameter input field.

The input/output device 310 has a capability of displaying a browserwindow on a desktop screen of the operating system to present thebrowser window to the user. The input/output device 310 further has acapability of receiving a terminal manipulation by the user or aparameter input into the input form by the user. The input/output device310 further has a capability of transmitting data to and receiving datafrom the web server 120 over the network 110.

The web browser 320 according to this embodiment of the presentinvention provides a capability of accessing the web server 120 or thelike over the network 110, obtaining the parameter input form or a webpage containing the search result, and presenting them to the user. Thebrowser can be Internet Explorer (trademark) provided by MicrosoftCorporation or Firefox (trademark) provided by Mozilla Corporation, forexample.

The input support program 330 according to this embodiment of thepresent invention supports the user to input a parameter into theparameter input form received by the web browser 320. The input supportprogram 330 according to this embodiment of the present inventioncomprises a parameter detecting section 332, a selection typedetermining section 334, a menu presenting section 336 and a textcharacter string transforming section 338.

The parameter detecting section 332 according to this embodiment of thepresent invention detects one or more search terms, which are parametersinput in the input form on the web page. In this embodiment of thepresent invention, when a plurality of search terms is input, the searchterms are separated by spaces, which serve as delimiters. The parameterdetecting section 332 can detect the part selected by the user in theinput text character string including the search terms.

The selection type determining section 334 according to this embodimentof the present invention determines the selection type based on the partof the text character string including the search terms selected by theuser. In this embodiment of the present invention, the selection type is“substring”, “single term”, “multiple terms (2 terms)”, “multiple terms(3+ terms)” or “N/A” (unknown). The determination process will bedescribed in detail later with reference to a flowchart 500 of FIG. 5.

The menu presenting section 336 according to this embodiment of thepresent invention provides a capability of presenting an executionoption of an execution parameter of the search service provided by theweb server 120 in the form of a menu depending on the selection typedetermined by the selection type determining section 334. Note that, inthis embodiment of the present invention, the menu presented varies withthe selection type. The user of the client system 100 selects a desiredexecution option from the menu, and the text character stringtransforming section 338 is informed of the selected execution option.The menu presentation process will be described in detail later withreference to a flowchart 600 of FIG. 6.

The text character string transforming section 338 according to thisembodiment of the present invention transforms the text character stringincluding one or more search terms input in an input field 725 to addthe selected execution option informed by the menu presenting section336 to the text character string. The text character stringtransformation process will be described in detail later with referenceto examples shown in FIGS. 11 to 13.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart 400 showing the whole of the operation of the dataprocessing system according to this embodiment of the present invention.The process starts in step 405. In step 410, the client system 100accesses the web server 120 that provides the search service over thenetwork 110. The access is achieved by specifying the uniform resourcelocator (URL) corresponding to the web server 120 on the web browser320.

Then, in step 415, the client system 100 receives the web pagecontaining the input form transmitted from the server in response to theaccess in step 410.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary browser window of the data processing systemaccording to this embodiment of the present invention. Note that abrowser window 700 is displayed when the web page is received in step415. The browser window 700 contains a tool bar 705, an address (URL)input area 710, a menu bar 715 and a page display area 720.

The tool bar 705 provides various functions, such as file manipulationand display control, in the form of button icons. The address (URL)input area 710 is used for the user of the client system 100 to specifythe URL of the web server to be accessed. The menu bar 715 providesvarious functions, such as file manipulation and display control, to theuser in the form of a menu. Access to the web server, jump between websites, and other various settings or manipulations are achieved usingthe tool bar 705, the address (URL) input area 710 and the menu bar 715.However, these are well-known, and thus further detailed descriptionsthereof will be omitted herein.

The page display area 720 is to display the web page received by theclient system 100 from the web server 120 or the like. In the example ofthe web page shown in FIG. 7, the web page displayed contains the inputfield 725 used for the user to input a text character string serving asa search condition to use the Internet search service, and a searchexecution button 730 labeled “Search”, in addition to an ordinarycontent. The client system 100 according to this embodiment of thepresent invention also has a function of supporting the user to inputthe search term in the input field 725. This function will be describedin detail later.

Referring back to the flow chart 400 of FIG. 4, the process proceeds tostep 420. In step 420, the user inputs one or more parameters, that is,search terms in the input field 725. Then, in step 425, the user selectsa part of the text character string. The selection of a part of the textcharacter string is performed using the mouse, the keyboard or the like,and the selected part is typically displayed with a different backgroundcolor (see FIGS. 11 to 13).

The process proceeds to step 430, in which it is determined whether theselection of a part of the text character string is completed or not.The determination is made based on whether a predetermined time haselapsed since a part of the text character string is selected or whethera predetermined action, such as right click on the mouse, is performed,for example. However, the criterion of the determination is not limitedto those described above. If it is determined in step 430 that theselection is not completed, the process returns to step 425 as shown bythe arrow NO, and the selection of a part of the text character stringcontinues.

If it is determined in step 430 that the selection is completed, theprocess proceeds to step 435 as shown by the arrow YES, and theselection type is determined. In this embodiment of the presentinvention, the selection type is “substring”, “single term”, “multipleterms (2 terms)”, “multiple terms (3+ terms)” or “N/A”. Thedetermination process will be described in detail later with referenceto the flowchart 500 of FIG. 5.

Then, it is determined in step 440 whether the selection type isidentified or not. If it is determined in step 440 that the selectiontype is not identified, that is, it is determined that the selectiontype is “N/A”, the process returns to step 420 as shown by the arrow NO,and a text character string is input again.

If it is determined in step 440 that the selection type is identified,that is, the selection type is determined to be any of “substring”,“single term”, “multiple terms (2 terms)” and “multiple terms (3+terms)”, the process proceeds to step 445 as shown by the arrow YES.

In step 445, depending on the selection type identified in step 435,execution options of execution parameters of the service provided by theweb server 120 are presented in the form of a menu. In addition, in step445, the user of the client system 100 selects a desired executionoption from the set of execution options in the menu presented to theuser. The menu presentation in step 440 will be described in detaillater with reference to the flowchart 600 of FIG. 6.

Then, the process proceeds to step 450, in which the text characterstring is transformed to make the execution option selected in step 445effective. The detailed specification of the transformation of the textcharacter string will be described in detail later with reference to theexamples shown in FIGS. 11 to 13.

Then, the process proceeds to step 455, in which it is determinedwhether the execution button 730 is pressed or not. If it is determinedin step 455 that the execution button 730 is not pressed, the processreturns to step 420 as shown by the arrow NO, and the input of the textcharacter string continues. If it is determined in step 455 that theexecution button 730 is pressed, and the input of the text characterstring representing the desired search condition is completed, theprocess proceeds to step 460 as shown by the arrow YES, in which theinput text character string including the search terms and the searchoptions is transmitted to the web server 120, and then, the process endsin step 465.

Next, with reference to the flowchart 500 of FIG. 5, the determinationof the selection type in step 435 in FIG. 4 will be described in detail.The process starts in step 505. In step 510, the number of search termsthat wholly or partially overlap with the selected range of the textcharacter string is calculated by considering the delimiters (blankcharacters (spaces) in this embodiment of the present invention). Then,in step 515, it is determined whether the number of search termscalculated in step 510 is multiple (two or more) or not.

If it is determined in step 515 that the number of search terms ismultiple (two or more), the process proceeds to step 520 as shown by thearrow YES, and it is determined whether the selected range is surroundedby delimiters or not. If it is determined in step 520 that the selectedrange is surrounded by delimiters, the process proceeds to step 525 asshown by the arrow YES, and it is determined whether or not the selectedrange includes three or more terms.

If it is determined in step 525 that the selected range includes threeor more terms, the process proceeds to step 530 as shown by the arrowYES, the selection type is identified as “multiple terms (3+ terms)”,and then, the process proceeds to step 560 and ends (in other words,proceeds to step 440). If it is determined in step 525 that the selectedrange does not include three or more terms, the process proceeds to step535 as shown by the arrow NO, the selection type is identified as“multiple terms (2 terms)”, and then, the process proceeds to step 560and ends.

If it is determined in step 520 that the selected range is notsurrounded by delimiters, the process proceeds to step 540 as shown bythe arrow NO, the selection type is identified as “N/A”, and then, theprocess proceeds to step 560 and ends.

If it is determined in step 515 that the number of search terms is notmultiple (two or more), the process proceeds to step 545 as shown by thearrow NO, and it is determined whether the selection range is surroundedby delimiters or not. If it is determined in step 545 that the selectedrange is surrounded by delimiters, the process proceeds to step 550 asshown by the arrow YES, the selection type is identified as “singleterm”, and then, the process proceeds to step 560 and ends.

If it is determined in step 545 that the selected range is notsurrounded by delimiters, the process proceeds to step 555 as shown bythe arrow NO, the selection type is identified as “substring”, and then,the process proceeds to step 560 and ends.

Next, with reference to the flowchart 600 of FIG. 6, the selection menupresentation in step 445 in FIG. 4 will be described in detail. Theprocess starts in step 605. In step 610, a menu ID corresponding to theselection type identified in step 435 is obtained from a selection typetable 900 contained in the menu presenting section 336. FIG. 9 shows anexample of the selection type table 900 according to this embodiment ofthe present invention. The selection type table 900 contains selectiontypes 910 and menu IDs 920 associated with each other.

Referring back to the flowchart 600 of FIG. 6, in step 610 according tothis embodiment of the present invention, the menu presenting section336 obtains a menu item ID from the selection type table 900 dependingon the selection type. In this embodiment of the present invention, menuitem IDs “1” and “2” are obtained if the selection type is “substring”,and menu item IDs “4”, “5”, “8”, “9” and “10” are obtained if theselection type is “single term”. Menu item IDs “3”, “4”, “6”, “7”, “8”,“9”, “10”, “11”, “12” and “13” are obtained if the selection type is“multiple terms (2 terms)”, and menu item IDs “3”, “4”, “7”, “8”, “9”,“10”, “11”, “12” and “13” are obtained if the selection type is“multiple terms (3+ terms)”.

Then, the process proceeds to step 615, in which a label correspondingto the menu ID obtained in step 610 is obtained from a menu table 1000to create a selection menu, and the selection menu is presented to theuser. FIG. 10 shows an example of the menu table 1000 according to thisembodiment of the present invention. The menu table 1000 contains menuIDs 1010, menu labels 1020 and sub menu IDs 1030 associated with eachother.

Then, the process proceeds to step 620, in which the user selects fromamong the menu items in the menu created and presented in step 615.Then, the process proceeds to step 625, in which it is determinedwhether the menu item selected in step 620 has a sub menu or not. Instep 625, if the menu ID selected in the menu table 1000 has anassociated sub menu ID, it is determined that the menu itemcorresponding to the menu ID has a sub menu.

If it is determined in step 625 that the menu item selected in step 620has no sub menu, the process proceeds to step 645 as shown by the arrowNO, and the specification of the transformation of the text characterstring corresponding to the selected menu ID is identified. Theidentification is achieved by searching a table of contents shown inFIG. 8.

If it is determined in step 625 that the menu item selected in step 620has a sub menu, the process proceeds to step 630 as shown by the arrowYES, and the sub menu ID is obtained from the menu table 1000. Then, theprocess proceeds to step 635, in which the label corresponding to thesub menu ID obtained in step 630 is obtained from the menu table 1000 tocreate a selection menu, and the selection menu is presented to theuser. Then, the process proceeds to step 640, in which the user selectsfrom among menu items in the sub menu created and presented in step 635.

Then, the process returns to step 625, and the process from step 625 tostep 640 is repeated until it is determined in step 625 that the menuitem selected in step 620 has no sub menu. Then, in step 645, thespecification of the transformation of the text character stringcorresponding to the selected menu ID selected from the menu table 1000is identified, and then, the process proceeds to step 650 and ends (inother words, proceeds to step 455).

FIG. 11 shows an example of a graphical user interface of the dataprocessing system according to this embodiment of the present invention(in the case where the selection type is identified as “substring”).Specifically, FIG. 11 shows a menu that is displayed when a part of asearch term “test”, specifically one character “s” in the term, isselected. Note that, in this drawing, the search term is converted intoa character string pointed by a dotted line arrow when the menu itemshown at the root of the dotted line arrow is selected.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a graphical user interface of the dataprocessing system according to this embodiment of the present invention(in the case where the selection type is identified as “single term”).Specifically, FIG. 12 shows a case where only one search term “apache”of three search terms “jakarta apache lucene” is selected.

FIG. 13 shows an example of a graphical user interface of the dataprocessing system according to this embodiment of the present invention(in the case where the selection type is identified as “multiple terms(2 terms)”). Specifically, FIG. 13 shows a case where two search terms“apache” and “lucene” of three search terms “jakarta apache lucene” areselected.

In FIGS. 12 and 13, the search term is converted into a character stringpointed by a dotted line arrow when the menu item shown at the root ofthe dotted line arrow is selected. In addition, note that, if anothermenu is shown at the head of the arrow in the drawings, the sub menu isdisplayed. In this embodiment of the present invention, in the casewhere the selection type is identified as “multiple terms (3+ terms)”,the transition diagram is the diagram of FIG. 13 from which partsinvolved with “Range Search” are removed.

As described above, according to this embodiment of the presentinvention, a method, a system and a program for supporting the input ofa search term as a parameter in an input field are provided. Thus, as isapparent, the user operability in inputting a parameter in an inputfield on a computer is improved.

The present invention can be implemented by hardware, software or acombination of hardware and software. A typical example of thecombination of hardware and software is a data processing systemincorporating a predetermined program. In this case, once thepredetermined program is loaded to and executed on the data processingsystem, the program controls the data processing system to execute theprocessing according to the present invention. The program is composedof a set of instructions that can be represented in any language, codeor expression. The set of instructions can directly make the systemperform a particular function or can make the system perform aparticular function after either or both of (1) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or expression and (2) copy into another medium isperformed.

Of course, the present invention includes not only the program itselfbut also a medium in which the program is recorded. The program forexecuting the functionality of the present invention can be stored inany computer-readable recording medium, such as a flexible disk, an MO,a CD-ROM, a DVD, a hard disk drive, a ROM, an MRAM and a RAM. Theprogram can be stored in the recording medium by downloading fromanother data processing system connected by a telecommunication line orcopying from another recording medium. Furthermore, the program can becompressed or divided into a plurality of sections and stored in asingle recording medium or a plurality of recording media. Note that aprogram product that implements the present invention can be provided invarious forms, of course.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodimentdescribed above can be modified or altered in various ways. For example,although the input field is implemented as a simple text field in theembodiment of the present invention described above, the input field maybe implemented as a rich text field, and the text character string maybe transformed to indicate that a selected execution option is includedaccording to the format of the “human-understandable expression” shownin FIG. 8. In this case, the execution parameter with the executionoption according to the format of “Syntax” in FIG. 8 is internallyhidden but held in the rich text field and transmitted to the web serverin response to pressing of the execution button.

Furthermore, although the embodiment has been described with referenceto the search engine complying with the syntax shown in FIG. 8 as anexample, the present invention can be equally applied to any othersearch engine that uses a syntax other than that shown in FIG. 8. Inaddition, the present invention can be applied to any software otherthan the search engine that requires an execution parameter. Inaddition, although the embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed on the assumption that the client system 100 transmits anexecution parameter to the web server 120 over the network 110, thepresent invention can be applied to a case where an execution parameteris provided to a program executed in a single, or stand-alone, computer.The technical scope of the present invention includes embodimentsmodified or altered in these ways, of course.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for supporting input of one ormore execution parameters of predetermined software in an input field,comprising: receiving input of a text character string including one ormore execution parameters in the input field displayed on a displaydevice; determining a selection type in response to a user selection ofa part of the text character string; displaying on the display deviceone or more execution options of the execution parameters depending onthe determined selection type, where a user can select one of the one ormore execution options in response to a selection of a part of said textcharacter string by the user, said one or more execution optionsdisplayed varying according to the type of selection of the part of saidtext character string; and in response to the user selection of adesired execution option, transforming said text character string toinclude the desired execution option selected and displaying thetransformed text character string on the display device, wherein saidpredetermined software is a search engine, said text character stringrepresents a search condition, and said execution options are searchoptions for said search engine and wherein said search options includesearch field specification, wild card, fuzzy search, proximity search,range search, search term boosting, Boolean operator, grouping and fieldgrouping.
 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:determining the selection type corresponding to the range of theselected part of said text character string, wherein said display ofsaid execution options include identifying a set of execution options ofsaid predetermined software corresponding to said selection type.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the one ormore parameters and execution options included in said transformed textcharacter string to a server that executes said predetermined software.4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where said textcharacter string includes a plurality of input parameters, the inputparameters are separated by a delimiter.
 5. The method according toclaim 4, wherein said delimiter is a space or a blank character.
 6. Themethod according to claim 2, wherein said selection type is determinedby considering any delimiter that is included in or adjacent to saidselected part of said text character string.
 7. The method according toclaim 5, further comprising: calculating the number of parametersassociated with said selected part of said text character string basedon the delimiter included in said selected part of said text characterstring.
 8. The method according to claim 3, further comprising:determining said selection type based on whether said selected part ofsaid text character string is adjacent to a delimiter or not.
 9. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising: obtaining an item IDcorresponding to said selection type from an option item table; andpresenting the execution option corresponding to the obtained item ID onan interface.
 10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:obtaining an item ID of a sub item from a table in a case where the itemselected on said interface includes the sub item; and presenting an itemcorresponding to the obtained item ID of said sub item.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the execution options that can be selectedare displayed on the display device in the form of a menu.
 12. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein labels of said one or moreexecution options that can be selected are displayed on the displaydevice.
 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein said selection typeis selected from a group including “a plurality of parameters”, “asingle parameter” and “a part of a parameter”.
 14. A computer programproduct for supporting input of one or more execution parameters ofpredetermined software in an input field, the computer program productcomprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium havingstored thereon computer program code that when executed by at least oneprocessor of a computer makes the computer: receive input of a textcharacter string including one or more execution parameters in the inputfield displayed on a display device; determine a selection type inresponse to a user selection of a part of the text character string;display on the display device one or more execution options of theexecution parameters depending on the determined selection type, where auser can select one of the one or more execution options in response toa selection of a part of said text character string by the user, saidone or more execution options displayed varying according to the type ofselection of the part of said text character string; and in response tothe user selection of a desired execution option, transform said textcharacter string to include the desired execution option selected anddisplay the transformed text character string on the display device,wherein said predetermined software is a search engine, said textcharacter string represents a search condition, and said executionoptions are search options for said search engine and wherein saidsearch options include search field specification, wild card, fuzzysearch, proximity search, range search, search term boosting, Booleanoperator, grouping and field grouping.
 15. A system for supporting inputof one or more execution parameters of predetermined software in aninput field, comprising: a computer with a display and a processorconfigured to perform: receiving input in the computer of a textcharacter string including one or more execution parameters in the inputfield; determining a selection type in response to a user selection of apart of the text character string; displaying in the display one or moreexecution options of the execution parameters depending on thedetermined selection type, where a user can select one of the one ormore execution options in response to a selection of a part of said textcharacter string by the user, said one or more execution optionsdisplayed varying according to the type of selection of the part of saidtext character string; and in response to the user selection of adesired execution option, transforming said text character string toinclude the desired execution option selected and displaying thetransformed text character string, wherein said predetermined softwareis a search engine, said text character string represents a searchcondition, and said execution options are search options for said searchengine and wherein said search options include search fieldspecification, wild card, fuzzy search, proximity search, range search,search term boosting, Boolean operator, grouping and field grouping.